Chapter 17: Annoying Pajui Bead

The clouds of the afternoon sky cooled the summer sun's rays gazing upon a flying duo and its two running mammals as they landed by their next step.

A passel of red hills pocked with virescent moss and sparse yew trees stretched before their eyes, and the fragrance of burning bushes pleased Dibano's Queen senses.

"So what are you trying to get, Your Royal Highness?" Kame's voice sounded as they jumped off her mount.

"The bead of a Pajui beast," she calmly replied, as her gaze swept by her targets from afar.

Standing on four furry limbs, the pajui's ruddy flesh shone like the glare of sunset.

Some lazed on the slopes, their scaly eyes screwed shut as the black bead atop their forehead glittered as it gathered more heaven and earth energy, while others skipped across the hills, their sharpened ebony claws scrubbing the ruby soil aside as they stretched their long and sinuous green tongues to swallow some insects or nearby flowers.

Kame nodded. "And do you have a plan to get one?"

Lyshisha absently scratched her frizzy head before she said, "Well, aside from harvesting it when they're asleep, I've gotta be in tune with their triple heartbeat and grab it from a distance exceeding fifty feet away from their detection area. Plus, making sure that it's a big fat bead. How's that for a plan?"

"A fine plan, except a big fat bead like Your Royal Highness said would not be the best ingredient. Many people fail to recognize this, but the bead's quality isn't determined by its size, but by its density. Look at the ones worn by the strongest ones. You see how small they are? If you were to catch one of them, they would be equivalent to at least a hundred of big ones!"

Lyshisha nodded repeatedly. "So that's why the best Palaces possess the best First Gate Pills with a one hundred percent success guarantee for an average 10th tier master! They're just requesting big bead to hide this precious fact! Ha-ha-ha! That's pretty smart!"

"Your Royal Highness understands. I must remind that these strongest also have an increased range, some able to check up to two hundred feet away from their position, I heard. Their bead is also more entrenched inside their head, making it even harder to retrieve them without alerting them…"

Well, for her recovery, she deserved the best, so after she nodded her understanding, she set about encountering the mightiest pajuis around, finding a pretty isolated target a few minutes into her search, reclining asleep near the top of a knoll while its bead increased in potency.

Its ugly mouth creased into a drooling grin as its pussy freely leaked its juices down the slope!

Well, there's no free toilet like nature itself…

The tip of her lips curled into a smile.

She'll have this one in the bag!

Standing a little over two hundred feet from her, she shut her eyes as she pressed her fingertips upon the temples of her forehead.

Boundless matter energy coalesced as two tiny but acute shovels facing each other above her head, while she shut the ambient sounds and focused on her triple heartbeat.

Thump-thump-thump … thump-thump-thump…

Yes, she had about a two-second delay between her heartbeats where her senses wouldn't be able to detect any movement, physical or otherwise.

She exerted her will and began to follow her plan, sending her matter shovels closer to the female pajui between every heartbeat.

When she reached her target's forehead, she once again, waited for the delay, then dove right inside to pluck the bead when the pajui's glassy eyes opened.

Sh*t!

The creature hissed, then sent a devastating soundless shockwave that quickly reached Lyshisha's helpless silhouette.

She barely managed to eke out a large letter matter before her face before the wave drowned her.

The letter matter was crushed, mitigating the damage as it reached her head, and mind.

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You are injured! You lost 2% Vitality.

Remaining Vitality: 100%—> 98%

|__________________________________________________________________________________________|

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You are injured! You lost …% Vitality.

Remaining Vitality:… %—>… %

|__________________________________________________________________________________________|

But while her body was singed and cut by the sudden assault, her mind remained steadfast as her colossal mental fortress brushed the puny "ripple" away.

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You are injured! You lost 3% Vitality.

Due to your continuous injuries, you started to lose Vitality at a debilitating rate!

Vitality Debilitating Rate: 0.2% every second

Remaining Vitality: 86%—> 82.8%

|__________________________________________________________________________________________|

She snorted.

When did such an insignificant critter dare to mount a mental assault against a 15th tier late-phase Genius Grandmistress like her?

Despite her underestimating her enemy, allowing these unforced injuries to pile up, she wouldn't be caught unaware once again!

Her gaze sharpened while her foe—whose bead lost over twenty percent of its power—rushed towards her in a bid to strike her the same way.

Not on her watch this time.

Bitten once, vigilant twice!

She then sent her double shovel through the pajui's head, its corpse leaving a trail of blood and brains down the knoll where the queen kicked its remains away with a wet plop in its wake.

Her efforts lasting more than twenty minutes—and a lot of energy—wasted at the last minute!

But what did she do wrong?

She did apply the shovels right between the intervals, so why did she fail?

Wait.

Maybe she shouldn't have done within the interval, as her instincts would naturally kick in before the next set of heartbeats comes in.

So, if she's to have a chance to get it, she'll have to do it just after the end of the previous beat where she'll then have the two seconds to harvest the bead in one shot!

But that's easy to say, not to do…

With that revised plan in mind, her hands flourished, creating a sturdy matter curtain to prevent the worsening of her injuries while she looked for an even stronger prey.

What time did she have to take care of her injuries?

T'was nothing!

*

The merman saw the female human running towards their group, her frame bloodied, torn and winded followed by a horde of angry pajuis hurling frantic shockwaves towards her.

To his amazement, she even used the missed shots buffeted energy to blow her forward while her matter curtain shielded the major hits.

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You are injured! You lost 6% Vitality and 8% Stamina.

Vitality Debilitating Rate: 1% every second

Stamina Debilitating Rate: 0.8% every second

Remaining Vitality: 54.8%—> 47.8% Remaining Stamina: 60.2%—> 51.4%

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"Y-Your Royal Highness? What did you do?" Kamealoha screamed.

"Harvesting the best bead, obviously! Now, hop on the Impu and get ready to bounce, guys!" she cried as she reached her allies!

When she jumped on her summon, she ordered her mount to summon a small scale lightning to scare them away…

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You lost some breath! You lost 23% Stamina.

Remaining Stamina: 44.2%—> 20.4%

|__________________________________________________________________________________________|

… which not only achieved its purpose, but scorched quite a few on the spot, leaving the Paihan hills colored with a few blackened spots as they stormed the battlefield away!

In mid-air, a breathless Lyshisha ingested a healing pill…

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Due to your healing, your Vitality and Stamina aren't debilitating anymore!

Remaining Vitality: 39.8—> 40.3/100% ¤Recovering 0.5% Vitality every second¤

Remaining Stamina: 15.6—> 16.6/100% ¤Recovering 1% Stamina every second¤

|__________________________________________________________________________________________|

… saying, " … Forward, baby girl, we're going to the Daojin plateau!"

Her Impundulu warbled its agreement and increased her pace to their new destination.

"What are you seeking to retrieve there, Your Royal Highness?" she heard the merman ask.

"An Ihuako rock."

"Oh, yes! It actually grows inside the Daojin plateau natural caves. Only they can manage to catch and store the ambient mana while hidden deep inside those immaculate stones! Exceptionally, due to the extraction's complexity, I'll help Your Royal Highness to extract the ore with my equipment to save you the trouble, how does that sound?"

Lyshisha took a deep breath, as she left her focus to say, " … that's nice, but I'm gonna have to do it on my own, the hard way, so don't insist, OK?"

"But, Your Royal Highness, doing it the natural way will be extremely painful, especially with your condition, so for the sake of your sister, please—"

"No! I was given this mission to perform on my own, despite my wealth! The sect not only tests my will, but my integrity in this ordeal, which I will never sacrifice, especially for my sister's sake, got it? Now, drop the subject and let me recover in peace!" she groaned as she shut her eyes, directing the medicinal effects to her more serious injuries.

The merman mumbled his understanding as they soared towards the plateau…